by Jason Grant- The StarLedgerPaul Bergrin, the once-prominent defense lawyer, has been found guilty of all 23 criminal counts today, including murder and conspiracy to murder, following a long high-profile criminal trial in federal court.The verdict was announced moments ago in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Dennis Cavanaugh in Newark. "it's been a long time coming. We have a great team." U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said shortly after the verdict was read.Prosecutors John Gay and Joseph Minish have been trying for years to win a verdict against Bergrin and put him away. With the across-the-board guilty verdict, Bergrin, 57, now faces the real prospect of spending the rest of his life behind bars, lawyers on both sides of the case say.A hard-charging criminal lawyer who has said he's handled more 150 trials, Bergrin represented himself against a litany of counts. His trial began Jan. 22. Some of the counts focused on allegations that Bergrin plotted to kill witnesses against legal clients while others zeroed in on allegations he was involved in trafficking cocaine.Bergrin became well known after representing drug kingpins, rap stars such as Lil’ Kim, and U.S. soldiers in Iraq in the 2000s. He has been held in federal, pre-trial lockup since he was arrested in 2009.'via Blog this'